Synonyms
Definition
Warning is the state of being warned. A warned individual uses conspicuous signals, often colors, which indicate to a predator or a competitor that it is not profitable as a prey item or it is alert. In the case of unprofitability, it is often due to the presence of toxic chemical defenses but could be achieved in a large number of ways such as speed, toughness, or by carrying spines (Ruxton et al. 2004).
Introduction
Warning in the animal kingdom takes a number of forms, which can be considered under the different modalities in which they occur, or they may use a combination of modalities.
The most commonly recognized modality for warning signals is probably visual signals such as aposematic patterns and colors (see entry on aposematic signals, and also below as aposematic signals are usually multimodal), visible spines or hairs, or movements which warn the receiver of the danger or unprofitability of approaching the signaller any...
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References
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Marples, N. (2019). Warning. In: Vonk, J., Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_720-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_720-1
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